PARIS: World number four Ben Shelton shook off a first-set stumble to beat local favourite Luca Van Assche 5-7 6-3 6-4 and go into the Paris Masters final on Saturday, reaching the third ATP 1000 final of his career.
In a thrilling match that had tennis fans on the edge of their seats (or maybe just on the edge of their snacks), Ben Shelton managed to defeat Luca Van Assche, the darling of the Paris crowd, with a scoreline of 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Yes, you read that right—Shelton, the fourth-ranked player in the world, was not about to let a little thing like a hometown favorite get in his way.
The match was a classic case of ‘the tortoise and the hare,’ where the early lead went to Van Assche, who was clearly feeling the love from the Parisian crowd. At first, it seemed like Shelton might be in for a long day at the office. You know, the kind where you’re just trying to get through the workweek, and all you can think about is how much you want to be anywhere else? But instead of throwing in the towel, Shelton decided to channel his inner chess master and adjust his strategy.
What did he do? He extended rallies, which is just a fancy way of saying he made Van Assche run around like a headless chicken. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t enjoy watching someone else sweat while you remain cool and collected? Shelton capitalized on errors, which is basically tennis talk for ‘I’ll just wait for you to mess up, and then I’ll swoop in like a superhero.’
This victory marks Shelton’s third ATP 1000 final appearance of his career, which is quite the achievement considering he’s still relatively new on the scene. It’s like he’s that overachieving kid in school who finishes their homework in record time while the rest of us are still trying to figure out what day it is.
As he prepares for the final, you can bet he’s got a lot on his mind—like how to avoid making the same mistakes that led to that first set slip-up. But if there’s one thing we know about Shelton, it’s that he’s not one to back down from a challenge. After all, who wouldn’t want to add a shiny new trophy to their collection?
So, here’s to Ben Shelton, the man who turned the tables on the hometown hope and reminded us all that in tennis, just like in life, it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts. Now let’s see if he can take it all the way and bring home the title. And if not, at least he’ll have a great story to tell about outsmarting the locals in their own backyard. Cheers to that!
Inspired by: “Shelton outwits hometown hope Van Assche to reach Paris Masters final” (r/News)